Máel Coluim, son of the king of the Cumbrians

Máel Coluim
Máel Coluim's name as it appears on folio 13v of British Library Cotton MS Faustina B IX (the Chronicle of Melrose): "Malcolmum".[1]
Father	possibly Owain Foel

Máel Coluim (fl. 1054) was an eleventh-century magnate who seems to have been established as either King of Alba or King of Strathclyde. In 1055, Siward, Earl of Northumbria defeated Mac Bethad mac Findlaích, the reigning ruler of the Kingdom of Alba. As a result of this military success against the Scots, several sources assert that Siward established Máel Coluim as king. It is uncertain whether this concerned the kingship of Alba or the kingship of Strathclyde.

The fact that Máel Coluim is described as the son of a "King of the Cumbrians" suggests that he was a member of the Cumbrian royal dynasty of Strathclyde, and could indicate that he was a close relative of Owain Foel, King of Strathclyde, the last known King of Strathclyde. Máel Coluim's Gaelic personal name could indicate that he was maternally descended from the royal Alpínid dynasty of Alba, which would have in turn endowed him with a claim to the Scottish throne.

Máel Coluim's fate is unknown. The fact that Siward died in 1055, and Mac Bethad retained authority in Alba, suggests that Máel Coluim was quickly overcome. There is evidence indicating that the southern reaches of the Kingdom of Strathclyde—the territories upon the Solway Plain—fell into the hands of the English during Siward's floruit. The more northerly lands of the realm seem to have been conquered by Máel Coluim mac Donnchada, King of Alba sometime between 1058 and 1070, and it is uncertain whether an independent Kingdom of Strathclyde still existed by the time of this conquest. In any event, Máel Coluim appears to be the last member of the Cumbrian royal dynasty on record.

Background

The Kingdom of Strathclyde in relation to its neighbours in the early eleventh century.

Máel Coluim seems to have been a member of the Cumbrian royal dynasty—the rulers of the Kingdom of Strathclyde.^[2] The twelfth-century Chronicon ex chronicis identifies him as a "son of the king of the Cumbrians" (regis Cumbrorum filium).^[3] He was likely closely related to—and possibly descended from—Owain Foel, King of Strathclyde (fl. 1018),^[4] a monarch attested in 1018 assisting the Scots against the Northumbrians at the Battle of Carham.^[5] Not only is the fate of Owain Foel uncertain following this Scottish victory, so too is the fate of the Cumbrian kingdom.^[6]

Son of the king of the Cumbrians

Máel Coluim's name and parentage as it appears on page 338 of Oxford Corpus Christi College MS 157 (Chronicon ex chronicis).^[7]

In 1054, the Kingdom of Alba was invaded by Siward, Earl of Northumbria (died 1055) in an campaign noted by the ninth–twelfth-century Anglo-Saxon Chronicle.^[8] According to the twelfth-century Gesta regum Anglorum,^[9] and Chronicon ex chronicis, Siward set up Máel Coluim in opposition to Mac Bethad mac Findlaích, King of Alba (died 1057).^[10] One possible interpretation of these sources is that this Máel Coluim refers to Mac Bethad's opponent Máel Coluim mac Donnchada (died 1093), a man who reigned as King of Alba from 1058 to 1093. If correct it would seem to be evidence that the father of this man, Donnchad ua Maíl Choluim (died 1040)—a man who had reigned as King of Alba from 1034 to 1040—had once been King of Strathclyde as well. This could in turn reveal that Donnchad gained the latter title from his grandfather, Máel Coluim mac Cináeda, King of Alba (died 1034), after the death of Owain Foel in or after 1018.^[11]

The name of Mac Bethad mac Findlaích as it appears on folio 41v of Oxford Bodleian Library MS Rawlinson B 489 (the Annals of Ulster).^[12]

Against this hypothetical Cumbrian succession is the fact that it rests solely upon Gesta regum Anglorum and Chronicon ex chronicis.^[11] There is otherwise no evidence that Donnchad was ever a Cumbrian king.^[13] If these sources truly refer to Donnchad's son, it is unclear why they describe Máel Coluim as the son of a mere Cumbrian king as opposed to that of a Scottish king—which Donnchad most certainly was—or why they fail to simply identify him as a son of Donnchad himself.^[14] In fact, there is otherwise no firm evidence that Máel Coluim mac Donnchada was in Alba or Northumbria in 1054, or that he had any connection with Siward's victory over Mac Bethad.^[15] Mac Bethad seems to have held onto the Scottish kingship until 1057, only to be succeeded by Lulach mac Gilla Comgáin (died 1058).^{[16][note 1]} Nevertheless, the twelfth-century Annales Lindisfarnenses et Dunelmenses, relates that Siward inserted a king in Mac Bethad's place before the latter was able to regain control.^[18]

The name and title of Siward as it appears on folio 161v of British Library Cotton MS Tiberius B I (the "C" version of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle): "Siward eorl".^[19]

Rather than being a member of the royal Alpínid dynasty of Alba, it is more likely that Máel Coluim was in fact a member of the Cumbrian dynasty;^[2] perhaps a son,^[20] or grandson of Owain Foel himself.^[21] Certainly, a previous member of the family is known to have borne the same name.^{[22][note 2]} If Máel Coluim was indeed a member of this kindred, one possibility is that the Scots had deprived him of the Cumbrian kingship following Owain Foel's demise, and that Siward installed Máel Coluim as king over the Cumbrians following the English victory against Mac Bethad.^[24] Another possibility, suggested by the account of events dictated by Chronicon ex chronicis, is that Siward installed Máel Coluim as King of Alba.^[25] Certainly, Máel Coluim's name could be evidence of an ancestral link with the ruling Alpínids—perhaps even a matrilineal link to Owain Foel's confederate at Carham, Máel Coluim mac Cináeda.^[26] If Máel Coluim was indeed a maternal grandson of a Scottish king, he would have certainly possessed a claim to the Scottish throne.^[6] Nothing is known of Máel Coluim's possible reign in Alba, although there is reason to suspect that he would have functioned as an English puppet, with little support from the Scottish aristocracy.^[23]

Disintegration of the Cumbrian realm

The name of Máel Coluim mac Donnchada as it appears on folio 19v of Oxford Bodleian Library MS Rawlinson B 488 (the Annals of Tigernach): "Mael Colaim mac Donnchadha".^[27]

It is uncertain if the Kingdom of Strathclyde even existed by the time of Siward's recorded interaction with Máel Coluim.^[6] There is also evidence to suggest that Siward and the Northumbrians exerted a significant amount of influence over the Cumbrian realm by the mid eleventh century.^[28] For example, the twelfth-century Historia ecclesiae Eboracensis records that two Bishops of Glasgow—a certain Johannes and Magsuen, whose names could be evidence that they were Cumbrians—were consecrated by Cynesige, Archbishop of York (died 1060).^[29] Although it is uncertain if Glasgow was indeed a diocesan seat in the eleventh century,^[30] and entirely possible that the ecclesiastical centre of was instead located at Govan or some place else,^[31] an eleventh-century stone cross decorated in the Northumbrian style from the site of the Glasgow Cathedral suggests that this site was nevertheless increasing in importance before the construction of the cathedral in the twelfth century.^[32] This cross may, therefore, corroborate the ecclesiastical claims by Historia ecclesiae Eboracensis,^[33] which could in turn indicate that Siward and Cynesige—the senior Northumbrian cleric—were indeed exerting influence over the Cumbrians.^{[34][note 3]} Another piece of evidence is a particular eleventh-century charter detailing the grant of certain rights and lands from a certain Gospatric to several individuals.^[36] According to this contract, the grantees received various lands in what came to form the English county of Cumberland, and the men gained a guarantee of protection from Gospatric and Siward. Since Siward is likely to have only granted territories within his own sphere of influence, coupled with the fact that the charter specifically states that the granted lands were "once Cumbrian", suggests that most (if not all) of the Cumbrian territories south of the Solway Firth had been gained by Siward sometimes before his death in 1055.^[37]

The name of Gospatric, Earl of Northumbria as it appears on folio 46v of British Library Harley MS 526 (Vita Ædwardi Regis).^[38]

It may have been in the course of Siward's campaign against the Scots that the English gained control of the Solway Plain.^[33] Pressure from external forces north of the Solway Firth—such as the contemporaneous expansion of the Gall Gaidheil—could have meant that the Cumbrian leadership allowed the southerly territories fall under Siward's authority.^[6] Whilst these lands indeed seem to have fallen under English authority in the eleventh century, the more northerly Cumbrian territories appear to have been conquered by the Scots. In 1070, for example, Gospatric, Earl of Northumbria (died 1073×1075) is recorded to have led an invasion into Scottish-controlled territory in an effort to counter certain devastating Scottish raids into England. According to the twelfth-century Historia regum Anglorum, Gospatric directed his counter-strike into Cumbreland, the former lands of the Cumbrian realm. In fact, this source alleges that Máel Coluim mac Donnchada's royal authority in these lands was unlawful since the Scots had only seized the lands "through violent subjugation".^[39]

The political alignment in the wake of the demise of the Kingdom of Strathclyde in the eleventh century.

Whilst the record of bishops Johannes and Magsuen seems to reveal that the Cumbrians were independent of the Scots during Cynesige's episcopacy (1055–1060)^[40]—albeit possibly under Northumbrian domination^[41]—the evidence from Historia regum Anglorum reveals that the northernmost portion of the Cumbrian realm had fallen to the Scots by the time of Gospatric's invasion.^[40] Although the events noted by Historia regum Anglorum are corroborated by the twelfth century Historia post Bedam,^[42] the Scottish conquest is unrecorded.^[43] Nevertheless, the takeover seems to have occurred at some point between Máel Coluim mac Donnchada's accession in 1058 and Gospatric's invasion of 1070.^[44] One possibility is that the Scots overthrew the father of the Cumbrian Máel Coluim.^[6] Another is that Máel Coluim and his dynasty were overcome in the power vacuum left by Siward's demise in 1055.^[45] The fact that Historia regum Anglorum questions the legitimacy of Máel Coluim mac Donnchada's possession of Cumbreland could reveal that the compiler of this source regarded the region as rightfully Northumbrian.^[6] Whatever the case, Máel Coluim appears to be the last known member of the Cumbrian dynasty.^[46]

Notes

Citations

References